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Capital · Cultural centre · Yunnan

Kunming

昆明 (Kūnmíng)

The City of Eternal Spring on Lake Dian

Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province, set at about 1,900 metres on the northern shore of Lake Dian. Its mild climate earned it the name “City of Eternal Spring”; it was the base of the wartime National Southwestern Associated University and the Flying Tigers, and today it is the hub for rail and air links to South-East Asia.

ProvinceYunnan

Key facts

Province
Yunnan
Administrative level
Prefecture-level city, provincial capital
Area
about 21,000 km²[1]
Resident population
8.46 million(as of 2020 census)[2]
Elevation
about 1,890 m

Overview

Kunming lies in a basin on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, between Lake Dian to the south and low hills to the north. Its altitude and latitude give it cool summers, dry sunny winters and flowers in every season, and the Dounan market south of the city is one of the largest cut-flower markets in Asia.

The city has been the political centre of Yunnan since the Yuan dynasty. During the war against Japan it was the terminus of the Burma Road, the base of the American volunteer fliers and the home of China's leading wartime university. Today it is a large modern city whose metro, airport and railways link the province with the rest of China and with Laos.

Names and nicknames

  • 春城 (Chūnchéng)

    “spring city”

    For the mild temperatures that prevail throughout the year.

  • 拓东城 (Tuòdōng Chéng)

    The city founded by the Nanzhao kingdom in 765, the forerunner of Kunming.

  • 鄯阐 (Shànchǎn)

    Name of the eastern capital under the Dali kingdom.

History

In 765 the Nanzhao kingdom built Tuodong city on the site as its eastern capital; under the Dali kingdom it was called Shanchan. The Mongols, having conquered Dali, made Kunming the seat of the new Yunnan province in 1276, and the Muslim governor Sayyid Ajall promoted irrigation and Confucian and Islamic learning. The Ming rebuilt it as a walled city in the 1380s. The metre-gauge railway from Haiphong reached Kunming in 1910, bringing French influence. In 1915 the campaign against Yuan Shikai's monarchy was launched here. From 1938 to 1946 the National Southwestern Associated University, formed from Peking, Tsinghua and Nankai universities, taught in Kunming, and the city was the base for the American Volunteer Group and the airlift over the Hump.

  1. 765

    Nanzhao founds Tuodong

    The eastern capital of the Nanzhao kingdom, on the shore of Lake Dian.

  2. 1276

    Seat of Yunnan province

    Governor Sayyid Ajall moved the provincial centre from Dali to Kunming, which it has remained.

  3. 1910

    Railway from Haiphong

    The French-built Yunnan–Vietnam railway reached Kunming, making the city a trading gateway to Indochina.

  4. 1915

    Launch of the National Protection War

    Yunnan's leaders declared their opposition to Yuan Shikai's monarchy at Kunming, starting the campaign that ended it.

  5. 1938–1946

    National Southwestern Associated University

    The combined wartime university taught many of China's later leading scientists and writers, including two future Nobel laureates in physics.

  6. 1941–1945

    Flying Tigers and the Hump

    Kunming was the base of Claire Chennault's American Volunteer Group and the terminus of the airlift from India.

  7. 2012

    Changshui International Airport opens

    Replaced Wujiaba as the main airport of south-west China's gateway to South-East Asia.

Landmarks

  1. Nature

    Lake Dian and the Western Hills

    滇池·西山 (Diānchí · Xī Shān)

    The large plateau lake south of the city, overlooked from the Western Hills by the Dragon Gate (龙门), a Daoist grotto path carved into the cliff.

  2. Historic site

    Grand View Pavilion

    大观楼 (Dàguān Lóu)

    Qing pavilion on the lakeshore famous for the 180-character Long Couplet by Sun Ran.

  3. Temple or shrine

    Yuantong Temple

    圆通寺 (Yuántōng Sì)

    Buddhist temple in the city centre, first founded under Nanzhao, with halls set around a pond.

  4. Park or garden

    Green Lake Park

    翠湖公园 (Cuìhú Gōngyuán)

    Lake park in the old city, visited by flocks of black-headed gulls from Siberia each winter.

  5. Historic site

    Former site of the Southwestern Associated University

    西南联大旧址 (Xīnán Liándà jiùzhǐ)

    On the campus of Yunnan Normal University, with a restored classroom and the university's memorial stele.

  6. Temple or shrine

    Golden Temple

    金殿 (Jīndiàn)

    Daoist temple on Mingfeng Hill with a hall cast entirely in bronze in the seventeenth century.

  7. Museum

    Yunnan Provincial Museum

    云南省博物馆 (Yúnnán Shěng Bówùguǎn)

    Dian bronzes from Lijiashan and Shizhaishan, Nanzhao and Dali Buddhist art.

Neighbourhoods

  • Wuhua

    五华区 (Wǔhuá Qū)

    The old centre, with Green Lake, the university quarter and Yuantong Temple.

  • Chenggong

    呈贡区 (Chénggòng Qū)

    New district south-east of the lake with the government offices, universities and the Dounan flower market.

  • Guandu

    官渡古镇 (Guāndù Gǔzhèn)

    Old lakeside town with temples and a Ming-dynasty stupa.

Food

  • Crossing-the-bridge noodles

    过桥米线 (guòqiáo mǐxiàn)

    Rice noodles and raw ingredients added to a bowl of very hot broth at the table.

  • Steam-pot chicken

    汽锅鸡 (qìguō jī)

    Chicken steamed in a Jianshui clay pot into a clear broth.

  • Small-pot rice noodles

    小锅米线 (xiǎoguō mǐxiàn)

    Noodles cooked to order in a small copper pot with minced pork and pickled vegetables.

  • Flower cakes

    鲜花饼 (xiānhuā bǐng)

    Flaky pastries filled with edible rose petals.

Culture

Kunming reflects the whole of Yunnan: the Yunnan Nationalities Village and Museum present the province's minority cultures, and the Dounan market shows its flower economy. The memory of the wartime university and the French railway gives the city a cosmopolitan past, and the migration of black-headed gulls to Green Lake each winter has become a city tradition since the 1980s.

五百里滇池，奔来眼底。

Wǔbǎi lǐ Diānchí, bēn lái yǎn dǐ.

“Five hundred li of Lake Dian rush before my eyes.”

— Sun Ran, opening of the Long Couplet of the Grand View Pavilion (大观楼长联), 18th century

Mountains and nature nearby

Getting around

  • Kunming Changshui International Airport lies north-east of the city and is linked to the centre by metro.
  • Kunming South station handles high-speed trains to eastern China and the China–Laos Railway; Kunming station serves Dali, Lijiang and conventional routes.
  • A metro network connects the old city, Chenggong, the airport and the railway stations.

Day trips

  • Stone Forest

    石林 (Shílín)

    Limestone pillars in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, part of the South China Karst World Heritage site.

  • Dongchuan Red Land

    东川红土地 (Dōngchuān hóngtǔdì)

    Terraced fields of iron-red soil in the north of the municipality.

  • Fuxian Lake

    抚仙湖 (Fǔxiān Hú)

    Deep, clear lake in Yuxi, south of Kunming, near the Chengjiang fossil site.

  • Zheng He Park, Jinning

    郑和公园 (Zhèng Hé Gōngyuán)

    Memorial to the Ming admiral in his home town of Kunyang.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

  1. Kunming Municipal People's Government — Kunming Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
  2. Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
  3. South China Karst — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
  4. Kunming — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)

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